Wednesday, January 6, 2010

A good use of some extra prosciutto

I was at the gym yesterday running on the treadmill listening to music and flipping through the channels on the TV. I paused briefly on the Food Network as Rachael Ray prepared some chicken breasts. It looked pretty boring at first (what could be more boring than a boneless, skinless chicken breast?) and I was about to flip, but then she pulled out the proscuitto. She wrapped boneless, skinless chicken breast drizzled in olive oil with a sage leaf and proscuitto. I quickly plugged my earphones in to hear her (sorry, but somewhat annoying) narration. Chicken breast, olive oil, sage leaf wrapped in prosciutto and bake it. Despite my general lack of interest in her cooking style, this inspired me to use the prosciutto on hand left over from the minestrone recipe (I bought it thinking I could substitute it for pancetta but ended up deciding to get the pancetta). I didn’t have sage, but I did have fresh basil also left over from the minestrone. I also sprinkled with a tiny bit of grated Parmigiano.

It was very easy and pretty good. Her recipe is an adaptation of the classic Roman dish saltimbocca which is made with veal. It got me wondering if Cook’s Illustrated had ever done a similar recipe, and how they would do it differently. Turns out they did do a Chicken Saltimbocca recipe in March of 2008. Just comparing the recipes, my first reaction is that the Cook’s Illustrated version is clearly superior to Ms. Ray’s version. I know her point is kind of to do it quick and easy, but how much quicker is it, and is it worth the trade off in taste? The only way to find out is to do a comparison[1].


So, tonight I did the saltimbocca taste test. I had three testers: my mom, my husband Chris and myself. As far as preparation, the CI recipe was not particularly difficult or time consuming but the Ray version was notably simple. CI coats and pan fries the chicken, and then tops with a white wine and butter sauce. It sounds like more work tha  it is! Ray skips the coating and sauce, and simple combines the ingredients and bakes it.



Cook's Illustrated version on the left, Rachael Ray version on right.

As far as taste, my mother said she liked both very much and would eat either any time (not surprising if you’ve read earlier posts). She would not pick a favorite. Chris also liked both, but preferred the Ray version because the chicken sage and prosciutto flavors were more straight forward. I think in general he prefers food without coating or sauce because it is healthier (which Ray’s version definitely is). I could see his point, but I thought the CI version was much better in terms of taste. It definitely had a lot going on. Ray’s version most impressed me with the simplicity.

A good compromise, in terms of health and time, would be to skip the sauce but stick with the pan frying. I just think a skinless chicken breast is so much better with a little browning rather than simply baking. If I were having company or serving with pasta I might do the sauce, but for a regular weeknight it’s not really necessary for this already very flavorful combination.

I have to admit I was expecting to not like Ray’s version at all, particularly in comparison to the CI version. This is a good lesson in looking beyond preconceived notions and evaluating substance. I’m still not going to watch her show, but I might check out her take on some of the dishes I do from CI for comparison and time saving techniques.

Coming up next, Cajun red beans and rice! I’m looking forward to making this NOLA classic for a traditional Monday night dinner.


[1] It is somewhat of an unfair comparison. I think the difference between Ray/CI is epitomized in their divergent views on Olive Oil. While Ray is known for her (annoying, imo) catch phrase abbreviation of extra virgin olive oil “evoo”, She never really explains why she uses it in EVERYTHING and doesn’t use regular olive oil in cooking, as recommended in CI. It is especially annoying because she claims to be down to earth and simple, yet evoo is more expensive than regular olive oil. Why use the more expensive option when it is not even the better choice in many instances?

1 comment:

  1. I'm not a fan of olive oil for everything. In fact, I think it ruins the flavor of some things. I much prefer canola oil in cooking. Or peanut oil if I'm making an asian dish. Not sure how healthy they are. I've also been trying coconut oil for some things because my "crunchy" friends are crazy about it. :)

    I think Rachael Ray is OK. Annoying and some of her recipes are terrible, but some are not bad.

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